JHELUM: Three women and a man were shot dead in the Dhok Lona area of Jhelum in an incident of ‘honour’ killing Tuesday morning.

The accused, absconded after he shot and killed his daughter, his sister-in-law, her mother, and his nephew at their home in the incident.

According to District Police Officer (DPO) Jhelum, Mujahid Akbar Khan, the man’s daughter and nephew had married of their free will 10 days ago and gone into hiding.

The girl’s father, after discovering the pair at his brother’s house, shot the couple along with his brother’s wife and her mother.

DPO Khan added the police is conducting raids to arrest the suspect.

Earlier this year, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged to eradicate the “evil” of honour killings in Pakistan, after filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s second Oscar-winning documentary brought the issue into the public eye once again and propelled support for a Punjab Assembly bill to protect women’s rights.

Obaid-Chinoy met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif recently, turning a global spotlight on honour killings in the country.

Hundreds of women are murdered by their relatives in Pakistan each year on the pretext of defending family “honour”.